Cultivation of plants

ABSTRACT

A ground cover for cultivation of plants includes a membrane strip having a side which in use is an upper side, and anchoring formations on the upper side of the membrane strip. The anchoring formations assist a plant in the vicinity of the ground cover to anchor itself to the ground cover.

THIS INVENTION relates to cultivation of plants. In particular, itrelates to a ground cover for cultivation of plants and to a method ofproviding anchoring formations for plants.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a groundcover for cultivation of plants, the ground cover including

-   -   a membrane strip having a side which in use is an upper side;        and    -   anchoring formations on the upper side of the membrane strip for        assisting a plant in the vicinity of the ground cover to anchor        itself to the ground cover.

The membrane strip may be water impervious and it may be lightimpervious, at least to some degree, as required. Typically, themembrane strip is of polyethylene material. The membrane strip may be ofconventional agricultural sheeting, e.g. any of the membranes or sheetssupplied by Polyon Agricultural Sheeting of Kibbutz Barkai, M. P.Menashe 37860 Israel.

The membrane strip may have a thickness of between about 15 μm and about40 μm, typically between about 15 μm and about 37 μm, e.g. about 20 μm.

The membrane strip may have a length of at least 500 m, typically atleast 1000 m, e.g. about 1000 m.

The membrane strip may have a width of between about 0.5 m and about 2.5m, typically between about 1 m and about 1.5 m, e.g. about 1.2 m.

The anchoring formations may be defined by a net. The net may beattached, e.g. adhesively attached or physically connected such as bymeans of a temperature and/or pressure process when the net is also ofsynthetic plastics material, as described hereinafter, to the membranestrip at a plurality of spaced locations, allowing the net to bedisplaceable away from the membrane strip, in areas where the net is notattached to the membrane strip. Typically, the net is attached to themembrane strip along two longitudinally extending zones. Each zone mayhave a width of between about 2 cm and about 25 cm, typically betweenabout 5 cm and about 15 cm, e.g. about 10 cm. Typically, thelongitudinally extending zones are adjacent respective longitudinallyextending edges of the membrane strip, leaving a central, longitudinallyextending zone of the net displaceable away from the membrane strip.

Apertures defined by the net may be rectangular. Major sides of eachrectangular aperture may extend longitudinally relative to the membranestrip.

Each aperture defined by the net may have a length of between about 2.5cm and about 15 cm, typically between about 5 cm and about 10 cm, e.g.about 8 cm.

Each aperture defined by the net may have a width of between about 1.5cm and about 15 cm, typically between about 2.5 cm and about 10 cm, e.g.about 8 cm.

The net may be of a synthetic plastics or polymeric material, e.g.polyethylene or polypropylene. Preferably, the net is of a materialwhich is UV-stabilized.

The net may be of strands having a thickness of between about 0.2 mm andabout 3 mm, typically between about 0.3 mm and about 0.5 mm, e.g. about0.45 mm.

The membrane strip may define at least one aperture therethrough forreceiving a plant. Thus, in use, a plant typically grows through theaperture in the membrane strip and anchors itself to the ground covers.

The membrane strip may define a plurality of longitudinally spacedapertures. The apertures may be equidistantly spaced and may be locatedon a longitudinally extending centre line of the membrane strip.Although the ground cover may be supplied in the trade with theapertures, it is to be appreciated that it may be more convenient for auser of the ground cover simply to punch or tear holes in the membranestrip in the number and locations required by the user.

The ground cover may be in the form of a roll, comprising a plyconsisting of the membrane strip and another ply consisting of theanchoring formations.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a methodof providing anchoring formations for plants, the method including

-   -   laying a ground cover as hereinbefore described on a strip of        ground; and    -   securing the ground cover to the ground.

Laying the ground cover may include unrolling the membrane strip and theanchoring formations from a roll, comprising a ply of the membrane stripand a ply of the anchoring formations.

Securing the ground cover to the ground may include securinglongitudinally extending zones adjacent respective longitudinallyextending edges of the ground cover to the ground. This may be effectedby temporarily holding down a portion of an edge on the ground andpiling soil onto the held-down portion of the edge.

The method may include providing a tunnel or shelter over the groundcover.

According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided amethod of providing anchoring formations for plants, the methodincluding

-   -   laying a membrane strip having a side which in use is an upper        side on a strip of ground;    -   laying anchoring formations on the upper side of the membrane        strip; and    -   securing the membrane strip and the anchoring formations to the        ground.

The membrane strip and the anchoring formations may be laid on theground simultaneously, and may be as hereinbefore described.

The method may include providing a roll, comprising a ply of themembrane strip and a ply of anchoring formations, and unrolling themembrane strip and the anchoring formations simultaneously to lay themsimultaneously on the ground.

Securing the membrane strip and the anchoring formations to the groundmay include securing longitudinally extending zones adjacent respectivelongitudinally extending edges of the membrane strip and a body definingthe anchoring formations to the ground. This may be effected bytemporarily holding down a portion of an edge of both of the membranestrip and the anchoring formations and piling soil onto the held-downportions of the edges.

The method may include providing a tunnel or shelter over the membranestrip and the anchoring formations.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with referenceto the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which

FIG. 1 shows a three-dimensional view of a portion of a ground cover inaccordance with the invention; and

FIG. 2 shows a three-dimensional view of the portion of the ground coverof FIG. 1, in use.

Referring to the drawings, reference numeral 10 generally indicates aground cover in accordance with the invention, only a portion of whichis shown. The ground cover 10 includes a membrane strip 12 with a side14 which in use is an upper side, and a net 16, the strands 18 of whichdefine anchoring formations.

The net 16 is located on and covers the upper side 14 of the membranestrip 12. Two longitudinally extending, ten cm wide edge portions of thenet 16 are adhesively attached to similar edge portions 17 of themembrane strip 12. Thus, a longitudinally extending central area or zoneof the net 16 is not directly attached to the membrane strip 12, butonly by means of the edge portions. The central area or zone is thusfree to move away, at least to a limited extent, from the membrane strip12, allowing plant tentacles to grow inbetween the net 16 and themembrane strip 12.

The membrane strip 12 is water impervious and light impervious, and isof polyethylene material. It has a thickness of about 20 μm, a width ofabout 1.2 m and a length of about 1000 m.

Rectangular apertures or rectangular blocks 19 defined by the net 16each has a length of about 8 cm and a width of about 8 cm. The net 16 isarranged relative to the membrane strip 12 such that the apertures orblocks 19 defined by the net 16 have their shorter sides transverse tothe membrane strip 12.

The net 16 is of polyethylene or polypropylene material. A typicalexample of a suitable net 16 is a net supplied under the trade nameNetlon Palnet, available from African Commerce Developing Company(Proprietary) Limited of Dacres Avenue, Epping 2, Eppingdust, Cape Town,Republic of South Africa.

The ground cover 10 is supplied in the form of a two-ply roll (notshown), one ply consisting of the membrane strip 12 and the other plyconsisting of the net 16.

In another embodiment of the invention, instead of the edge portions ofthe net 16 being adhesively attached to the edge portions 17 of themembrane strip, the edge portions of the net may be physically attachedto the edge portions of the membrane strip, such as by means of a hightemperature and/or high pressure process e.g. by means of welding.

In use, the ground cover 10 is laid on the ground by unrolling themembrane strip 12 and the net 16 from the two-ply roll. Typically, theground cover 10 is laid over a linearly extending ridge or hump, with acentre line of the ground cover 10 being located on a longitudinallyextending centre line of the ridge or hump. Typically, an irrigationpipe or the like (not shown) is located underneath the membrane strip 12but, as will be appreciated, the exact arrangement may depend on thekind of plants for which the ground cover 10 is intended to be used.

The ground cover 10 may be laid using a conventional machine for thelaying of conventional ground covers for the cultivation of plants.Thus, the unrolling membrane strip 12 and net 16 may be temporarily helddown by a pair of spaced wheels pressing down on the edge portions 17,whilst ploughs hares may throw two rows 20 of soil onto the edgeportions 17.

A plurality of apertures (only one of which is shown) is formed in themembrane strip 12, by simply pushing holes through the membrane strip12. The apertures are typically located on the centre line of themembrane strip 12 and are spaced a desired distance from each other.Plants to be cultivated are then planted, one in each aperture.Typically, the ground cover 10 is used for plants with tentacles, suchas watermelon or cantaloupe. The plants growing through the aperturesfind it easy to attach or anchor themselves to the net 16, as shown inFIG. 2 of the drawings.

The use of a ground cover, comprising only a membrane strip, is known tothe applicant. Membrane strip ground covers have a number of advantages,period, and less chemical pest control is required. By also supplyinganchoring formations on the upper side of the membrane strip, therebyassisting cultivated plants to anchor themselves to the ground cover 10,the ground cover 10, as illustrated, also provides the followingadvantages: due to the anchoring of tentacles of the plant, wind damageto the plant is reduced; plants are less acceptable to fungi, infectionsand stress when they are less disturbed; immature fruits are not movedabout, which reduces abrasions and loss of fruit; natural wind breaksare sufficient to prevent wind damage to the plants and fruit and it isthus not necessary to erect artificial windbreaks, lowering inputcapital; the net 16 strengthens the membrane strip 12, inhibiting winddamage to the membrane strip 12 and thus allowing thinner membranestrips to be used and use of the ground cover 10 for a second harvestduring the same season; and more mature fruit is produced per hectare,leading to higher nett income per hectare.

Some of the abovementioned advantages are illustrated by the followingresults from experiments conducted by the applicant.

EXPERIMENT 1

An experiment was conducted at Ou Tuin, Doringrivier, DistrictClanwilliam in South Africa to investigate the effect of the inventionon the cultivation of watermelon and cantaloupe compared to other groundtreatment strategies. This area is subject to wind damage of plants. Thewatermelon variety used was Carmen and the cantaloupe variety used wasAphrodite. The membrane used with the watermelon was a brown plasticssheet, whereas the membrane used with the cantaloupe was a blackplastics sheet. Observations on the leaf growth were made 8 weeks(Table 1) and 10 weeks (Table 2) after planting. The Tables show thenumber of fully grown permanent leaves per plant. Data for each repeatshows the average for 17 plants. TABLE 1 WATERMELON CANTALOUPE Repeat 1Repeat 2 Repeat 3 Average Repeat 1 Repeat 2 Repeat 3 Average

are ground 3.82 3.94 3.31 3.69 0.42 0.62 0.49 0.51

lastics sheet 5.29 5.23 4.38 4.97 1.52 1.64 1.65 1.60

lastics sheet + net 4.29 4.67 4.00 4.32 1.51 1.18 1.57 1.42

lastics sheet + tunnel 12.18 14.00 11.43 12.54 3.24 2.58 2.26 2.69

lastics sheet + net + tunnel 10.17 13.06 12.81 12.01 2.59 3.05 2.54 2.73

TABLE 2 WATERMELON CANTALOUPE Repeat 1 Repeat 2 Repeat 3 Average Repeat1 Repeat 2 Repeat 3 Average

are ground 12.41 8.36 11.75 10.84 4.64 4.47 4.00 4.37

astics sheet 30.12 24.94 21.94 25.67 8.50 8.73 9.13 8.79

astics sheet + net 31.33 29.29 24.28 28.37 7.69 7.00 10.53 8.41

astics sheet + tunnel 66.00 76.00 69.00 70.33 18.62 19.25 18.29 18.72

astics sheet + net + tunnel 83.00 74.00 65.00 74.00 18.13 20.23 23.2320.53

It is clear from Tables 1 and 2 that initial growth of leaves isstrongest inside the tunnel and it was markedly stronger for watermelonthan cantaloupe, possibly because the watermelon was established fromplants, whereas the cantaloupe was established from seed. The plasticssheet, with and without the net, also had a significant effect on thenumber of fully grown leaves, compared to bare ground only, as shown byTables 1 and 2. After 10 weeks, the use of a plastics sheet incombination with the net, for watermelon, showed improved resultscompared to the use of a plastics sheet only. It appeared that the mostprominent advantage of the use of the net with the plastics sheet is notto increase the number of leaves per plant, but rather to improve theeffectiveness of the leaves. This can possibly be explained by the factthat anchoring of the tentacles of the plants to the net has the effectthat the leaves can maintain a fixed orientation relative to the sun incontrast with unanchored plants which are subject to continual movementby the wind, causing changes in orientation of the leaves relative tothe sun. Leaves are often turned upside down so that the leaf stems haveto recompensate for incorrect orientation of the leaves relative to thesun. This problem is particularly severe on smooth plastics sheets.After 10 weeks, the number of tentacles per plant anchored to the netwas 8 for watermelon and 0.46 for cantaloupe. This difference canpossibly again be explained by the fact that the cantaloupe wasestablished from seed whereas the watermelon was established fromplants.

Measurements were also taken to determine the effect of the differentground treatment strategies on the fruit-bearing capacity of thewatermelon and the cantaloupe. The results are shown in Table 3 andindicate the number of fruits per plant after about 14 weeks. Forcantaloupe, fruits larger than 8 cm were counted and for watermelon,fruits larger than 15 cm in length were counted. The values given arethe average of 17 plants. Table 4 shows the results (number offruits/plant) after about 20 weeks. TABLE 3 WATERMELON CANTALOUPE Repeat1 Repeat 2 Repeat 3 Average Repeat 1 Repeat 2 Repeat 3 Average

are ground 0.58 0.44 0.40 0.47 0.50 0.46 0.56 0.51

lastics sheet 0.82 0.41 0.53 0.59 1.88 1.60 1.94 1.81

lastics sheet + net 0.94 1.06 0.88 0.96 1.93 1.47 2.53 1.98

lastics sheet + tunnel 1.35 0.94 1.00 1.10 1.63 1.94 2.13 1.90

lastics sheet + net + tunnel 1.18 1.38 1.05 1.20 2.11 2.53 2.06 2.23

TABLE 4 WATERMELON CANTALOUPE Repeat 1 Repeat 2 Repeat 3 Average Repeat1 Repeat 2 Repeat 3 Average

are ground 1.07 1.00 1.00 1.02 1.56 1.53 1.75 1.61

astics sheet 1.06 1.06 1.00 1.04 2.31 2.29 2.38 2.33

astics sheet + net 1.13 1.18 1.25 1.19 2.71 2.67 2.65 2.67

astics sheet + tunnel 1.00 1.24 1.18 1.14 2.44 2.31 2.44 2.40

astics sheet + net + tunnel 1.42 1.41 1.20 1.34 2.73 2.75 2.76 2.75

It is clear that the combination of the plastics sheet with the net hasa marked effect on the fruit-bearing capacity of both watermelon andcantaloupe, particularly in combination with a tunnel, particularly whencompared to bare ground.

Table 5 illustrates the effect of the ground treatment method on averagefruit diameter (in mm) after about 20 weeks. TABLE 5 WATERMELONCANTALOUPE Repeat 1 Repeat 2 Repeat 3 Average Repeat 1 Repeat 2 Repeat 3Average

re ground 165.06 169.36 163.63 166.02 130.84 130.13 126.03 129.00

stics sheet 171.25 169.33 176.00 172.19 131.28 141.29 142.63 138.40

stics sheet + net 169.08 179.50 176.92 175.17 139.13 136.88 138.81138.27

stics sheet + tunnel 180.08 171.76 176.20 176.01 136.20 137.50 140.75138.15

stics sheet + net + tunnel 184.70 217.12 184.00 195.27 137.94 137.09139.10 138.04

As can be seen, for watermelon there was enough variation in fruit sizein order to, in addition to fruit-bearing capacity, affect the mass ofharvested fruit. For cantaloupe, this variation was relatively small andit is thus the fruit-bearing capacity in the case of cantaloupe whichwill have the largest effect on the yield of the cantaloupe harvest.

The effect of the ground treatment method on harvest yield wascalculated (in tons per hectare). The following factors were used incalculating yields: the number of fruits for watermelon was limited tofruits longer than 15 cm, and for cantaloupe to fruits longer than 8 cmfor one trial row of 17 trial plants per planting. Average fruitdiameter is calculated as the sum of the length diameter and the widthdiameter divided by two for 16 fruits from one representative trial rowper planting. The calculated weight per fruit was determined by weighing15 fruits over the whole range of fruit sizes and preparing a graph ofthe relationship of the average fruit diameter against the average fruitweight. Calculated harvest yield per hectare was then calculated asfollows: number of fruits per plant after 20 weeks multiplied by thecalculated average weight per fruit multiplied by 10000 plants perhectare divided by 1000, to give calculated harvest yield in ton perhectare. The results are shown in Table 6 below. TABLE 6 WATERMELONCANTALOUPE Average Calculated Calculated Average Calculated Calculatedfruit fruit mass Number of harvest fruit fruit mass Number of harvestdiameter per fruit fruit per yield diameter per fruit fruit per yield(mm) (kg) plant (ton/ha) (mm) (kg) plant (ton/ha)

ground 166.02 3.79 1.02 38.66 129.00 1.22 1.61 19.64

ics sheet 172.19 4.21 1.04 43.78 138.40 1.48 2.33 34.48

ics sheet + net 175.17 4.38 1.19 52.12 138.27 1.47 2.67 39.24

ics sheet + tunnel 176.01 4.46 1.14 50.84 138.15 1.46 2.40 35.04

ics sheet + net + tunnel 195.27 6.18 1.34 82.81 138.04 1.47 2.75 40.43

It is clear from Table 6, that the use of the net with a plastics sheet(with or without the use of a tunnel), has markedly improved calculatedharvest yields for both watermelon and cantaloupe, compared to bareground and the use of a plastics sheet only. This is probably areflection of the negative effects of wind damage in the area where thetrials were conducted and the ability of the net to limit wind damage.The use of plastics sheeting alone improved calculated harvest yield forwatermelon by only 13.2%, compared to 75.6% for cantaloupe. It issuspected that an unidentified factor in the form of a harmful organisminfestation affected the watermelon covered by the plastics sheet only,causing the watermelon not to reach its full potential.

Observations were made to determine the effect of the different groundtreatment strategies on the possibility of an early harvest. The resultsare shown in Table 7 below, which indicates the number of fruit thatripened first per trial row of 17 plants, after about 20 weeks. TABLE 7WATERMELON CANTALOUPE Repeat 1 Repeat 2 Repeat 3 Average Repeat 1 Repeat2 Repeat 3 Average

ground 4 3 1 2.7 0 0 0 0.0

tics sheet 8 6 8 7.3 0 0 0 0.0

tics sheet + net 9 15 8 10.7 0 0 0 0.0

tics sheet + tunnel 12 15 12 13.0 2 1 2 1.7

tics sheet + net + tunnel 21 19 13 17.7 2 4 1 2.3

The improvement when using plastics sheet combined with a net in respectof watermelon is very clear from Table 7. For cantaloupe, theimprovement is also marked when a plastics sheet, a net and a tunnel areused, compared to bare ground. It was also observed that surface damageof young fruit as a result of movement caused by wind was at least 50%higher for those ground treatments strategies which did not include anet, for both watermelon and cantaloupe.

EXPERIMENT 2

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of the colour of theplastics sheet on the growth rate of watermelon and cantaloupe.Measurements of the number of fully grown permanent leaves in one row of30 plants were taken after 8 weeks and 10 weeks. Each planting consistedof 100 plants. The results are shown in the following Table 8. TABLE 8WATERMELON CANTALOUPE 8 weeks 10 weeks 8 weeks 10 weeks Black plasticssheet 4.03 18.67 1.36 7.13 Brown plastics sheet 4.42 22.19 1.74 9.07

It is clear that, after 10 weeks, stronger stimulation of growthoccurred underneath the brown plastics sheet than the black plasticssheet for both watermelon and cantaloupe. At this stage, there were18.9% more fully grown leaves under the brown plastics sheet forwatermelon and 27.2% more fully grown leaves for the cantaloupe.

The effect of the colour of the plastics sheet on calculated harvestyield was calculated. Calculations were done on the same basis as forTable 6, although fruit size measurements were taken for 100 plants forboth watermelon and cantaloupe. The results are reflected below in Table9. TABLE 9 WATERMELON CANTALOUPE Number of Number of CalculatedCalculated Number of Number of Calculated Calculated fruit per fruit perfruit mass harvest fruit per fruit per fruit mass harvest plant plantper fruit yield plant plant per fruit yield (8 weeks) (20 weeks) (kg)(ton/ha) (8 weeks) (20 weeks) (kg) (ton/ha) Black plastics sheet — — — —0.96 1.57 1.35 21.20 Brown plastics sheet — — — — 1.21 2.15 1.41 30.32Black plastics sheet 0.91 1.08 6.44 69.55 — — — — Brown plastics sheet1.08 1.34 6.47 86.70 1.97 2.42 1.54 37.26

EXPERIMENT 3

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of the groundtreatment strategies on sand blasting damage of young plants of HoneyChow cantaloupe cultivar. The plants were planted in such a manner thatfrom repeat 1 to repeat 3 the plants were progressively more exposed towind blown sand. This effect was promoted by judicious use of a reedwindbreak. The following Table 10 illustrates the results 3 weeks and 5weeks after planting. TABLE 10 Percentage surviving plants in plantingRepeat 1 Repeat 2 Repeat 3 Average Bare ground 73.3-73.0 58.8-10.618.8-8.2 50.3-30.6 Brown plastics sheet 55.5-56.0 55.7-56.0 46.6-28.352.6-46.7 Plastics sheet + net 72.0-72.0 72.2-72.1 52.2-28.2 65.5-57.4Average 65.2-65.3 64.2-52.4 40.8-22.4 56.7-46.6

The positive effect of the use of a plastics sheet in combination with anet is clearly illustrated in Table 10. It was further observed that,where a plastics sheet was used without a net, the wind eroded soil fromthe edges of the sheet with the result that the plastics sheet was tornand blown to one side, particularly in respect of repeat 3. This problemdid not occur where the plastics sheet was used in combination with thenet, as the wind did not erode the soil from the net allowing the net toanchor the plastics sheet.

1-20. Canceled
 21. A tentacled plant anchor and ground cover forimproving harvest yield of tentacled plants, the tentacled plant anchorand ground cover including a water-impervious membrane strip of asynthetic plastics material having a side which in use is an upper sideon which a growing tentacled plant can be supported; and tentacleanchoring formations on the upper side of the membrane strip forassisting a tentacled plant in the vicinity of the tentacled plantanchor and ground cover to anchor itself thereto, the tentacle anchoringformations allowing plant tentacles to grow in between the tentacleanchoring formations and the membrane strip.
 22. A tentacled plantanchor and ground cover as claimed in claim 21, in which the membranestrip has a thickness of between about 15 μm and about 40 μm, and alength of at least 500 m.
 23. A tentacled plant anchor and ground coveras claimed in claim 21, in which the membrane strip has a width ofbetween about 0.5 m and about 2.5 m.
 24. A tentacled plant anchor andground cover as claimed in claim 21, in which the tentacle anchoringformations are defined by a net located on the upper side of themembrane strip.
 25. A tentacled plant anchor and ground cover as claimedin claim 24, in which the net is attached to the membrane strip at aplurality of spaced locations, allowing the net to be displaceable awayfrom the membrane strip, in areas where the net is not attached to themembrane strip.
 26. A tentacled plant anchor and ground cover as claimedin claim 21, in which the membrane strip defines at least one aperturetherethrough for receiving a plant.
 27. A tentacled plant anchor andground cover as claimed in claim 21, which is in the form of a roll,comprising a ply consisting of the membrane strip and another plyconsisting of the tentacle anchoring formations.
 28. A method ofimproving harvest yield for tentacled plants by providing awater-impervious membrane strip with tentacle anchoring formations, themethod including laying a tentacled plant anchor and ground cover on astrip of ground; securing the tentacled plant anchor and ground cover tothe ground; and planting tentacled plants or their seed throughapertures in the membrane strip so that tentacled plants growing throughthe apertures can anchor themselves to the tentacle anchoring formationson top of the membrane strip.
 29. A method as claimed in claim 28, inwhich laying the tentacled plant anchor and ground cover includesunrolling the membrane strip and the tentacle anchoring formations froma roll, comprising a ply of the membrane strip and a ply of the tentacleanchoring formations.
 30. A method as claimed in claim 28, in whichsecuring the ground cover to the ground includes securing longitudinallyextending zones adjacent respective longitudinally extending edges ofthe tentacled plant anchor and ground cover to the ground.
 31. A methodas claimed in claim 28, which includes providing a tunnel or shelterover the tentacled plant anchor and ground cover.
 32. A method ofimproving harvest yield for tentacled plants by providing tentacleanchoring formations for the tentacled plants, the method includinglaying a membrane strip of a synthetic plastics material having a sidewhich in use is an upper side on a strip of ground; laying tentacleanchoring formations on the upper side of the membrane strip; securingthe membrane strip and the tentacle anchoring formations to the ground;and planting tentacled plants or their seed through apertures in themembrane strip so that tentacled plants growing through the aperturescan anchor themselves to the tentacle anchoring formations on top of themembrane strip.
 33. A method as claimed in claim 32, which includesproviding a roll, comprising a ply of the membrane strip and a ply oftentacle anchoring formations, and unrolling the membrane strip and thetentacle anchoring formations simultaneously to lay them simultaneouslyon the ground.
 34. A method as claimed in claim 32, in which securingthe membrane the tentacle anchoring formations to the ground includessecuring longitudinally extending zones adjacent respectivelongitudinally extending edges of the membrane strip and a body definingthe tentacle anchoring formations to the ground.
 35. A method as claimedin claim 32, which includes providing a tunnel or shelter over themembrane strip and the tentacle anchoring formations.